Contractors on Capitol Hill, Part 2: Legislation and Lobbying
NUCA of Colorado delegation led by Chapter President Jeff Rumer visits with Rep. Betsy Markey (D-4th district) in her Capitol Hill office.
8:45 a.m. and the NUCA delegation from Ohio was already talking congressional meeting strategy. There was chatter of flexing idealistic muscle by asking, point blank, how the congress person felt about voting down party lines when it conflicts with his or her constituency. Al Heckmann, Heckmann Sales and Leasing Inc., Dayton, Ohio, suggested a subtler positive-reinforcement approach by talking about how the Ohio EPA had done a great job at distributing funding already, but that more help is needed. We all knew that both brains and brawn were needed to make our case.
The Ohio House holds 18 Representatives, and with more than 12 confirmed appointments, several at conflicting times, it was going to take two teams to cover all of the congressional ground. The first team was made up of Heckmann, Tavis Riley, Riley Contracting, Norwalk, Ohio and Rob Krzys, CE‘s very own Associate Publisher, Peninsula, Ohio. The second team’s roster was Judd Gleason, Rudolph Libbe, Walbridge, Ohio, Matt Brannigan, Heckman Sales and Leasing Inc. and me.
Armed with a bevy of legislative info and to-go cups of coffee, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the Cannon House Office Building for our first meeting of the day. Our appointment with Patrick Tiberi’s (R-12th district) office was at 9:30. It was 9:22 and we had just found the underground passage from the Rayburn building (where NUCA was camped out in the cafeteria) to Cannon. We made it just in time to meet with Adam Francis, Tiberi’s Deputy Chief of Staff. He invited us into the congressman’s office, where we sank into the leather chairs and began our pitch — getting the construction industry back to work.
The talk of idealistic strong arming and positive reinforcement tactics were instantly forgotten as Judd and Matt talked about the very real issues that threatened to put them out of work — a cap on public assistance bonds (PABs) needs to be lifted, permanent relief from the Death Tax that threatens family businesses (a large percentage of the NUCA membership) and fighting against the “Card Check” legislation that promises binding arbitration by the government in private company matters. The meeting wasn’t about slaps on the wrist or pats on the back. It was about real people with real problems who need help now. Francis listened intently and carefully explained Representative Tiberi’s stance on each issue.
A little more than 20 minutes later, Francis was thanking us for coming and we were out the door. Our smiles widened as we walked into the hallway. The meeting had gone well — the congressman was supportive of the majority of our issues and Francis was open and honest about more conversational issues like voting down party lines and the pressures that the congressmen and women face on a daily basis.
Our team had nine meetings that day — two of which we were able to talk directly to the congressmen, Steven LaTourette (R-14th district) and Steve Austria (R-7th district). Many of those meetings went as smoothly as the Tiberi meeting, with a few exceptions (a tangent argument about labor with Marcy Kaptur’s Senior Legislative Assistant and a scheduling conflict that was easily ironed out). The issues took center stage and a funny thing happened: Through out the entire day, we never felt like we were being fed lines or rushed out the door. Fear was in the air — the primary elections were starting and word on the D.C. streets was that the incumbents were in trouble (and for good reason, the Ds retired one of the U.S. Senate’s longest-serving senators, Arlen Specter, with the constituency nominating Joe Sestak, for example). The representatives knew that we were their constituency and we’re not happy with how Washington is handling these issues. Their bosses were in town and it was time for reviews.
Though our meetings were successful, it was hard to tell if our lobbying efforts made an impact. When you’re in D.C., it’s easy to get wrapped up in the melodrama — who made a deal with who, who’s voting for what, who is in and who is out. It’s exciting, but it has little to do with the issues. Washington, D.C., politics are a game and we were merely players. It should be about the issues. It should be about the ideals. But it’s not. In the end, it’s about the small victories. For many of the NUCA members, it’s about coming to Washington and getting their fair share of face time to let their elected officials know that they are out there and they’re keeping an eye on them. If there was ever a year when the representatives were willing to listen, this was the year, and NUCA members were out in force to make their statements heard.
End of the Day Thoughts with Judd and Al:
